Money is like thoughts or emotions in that they aren’t intrinsically bad or good. It’s the actions that you take for, about, or because of them which have negative or positive connotations. Money is not some evil demon separate from spirituality and seeking to ruin it somehow. In fact, money isn’t much of anything at all. It’s paper and metal with pictures on it. It’s usefulness is in what we utilize it for. And that’s the language of value.
Because we no longer trade chickens and wheat for the things we need as we’re now living in the global village instead of the localized version, we need a means of communicating what we value and how we value it. In the past we knew how much bread we could get for a goat, how much leather goods were worth in potatoes, in general, and then ‘buying’ something with them required negotiation for each transaction. Today we have ‘prices’ on everything which states what the owner feels the value is. And you either purchase or don’t based on how you value those things. Of course, there are still places where we bargain for things, more or less so depending on the country you are in, but one of the most common areas for bargaining is real estate.
Being spiritual doesn’t mean that you eschew money or see money as the enemy. Because money is just a means of valuing yourself and others through the skills, objects, and services we are all offering. So before you go off on not wanting to get into the ‘money’ game with your spirituality or your practice, take a step back. Is it really money that is the issue, or your judgements around what people do to get money? Because that isn’t the fault of money. Or is it an issue with how you value yourself and what you do? Or fear that other’s won’t value it? Or is it that you don’t like doing the things that you will need to do in order to get the money flowing, like marketing(pr, advertising, emails, etc)? Because there are all kinds of things in every single thing we do, no matter how enjoyable, that we don’t like at one point in time. And sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and do it in order to get to the parts that you do like. Again, not the fault of money, just the physics of starting a business.
So if you’re thinking that money is anti-spiritual, stop for a moment. The behaviors people have around money may be so. There have always, and I mean always, been people out there ‘selling snake oil’ in order to make a living, a fast buck, a fortune off the gullible, etc, etc. And there always will be. It’s a choice like any other. Again, not the fault of money. There are people who want fortunes and their life is all about the acquisition of money for power or fame or lifestyle. Again, not the fault of money. If you don’t want to be involved with those things, then please seek out ways to avoid them and don’t buy lottery tickets and scratch its. Because the universe has a sense of humor and a fine taste in irony. But do be involved in the things which call your soul. And do allow people to value you what you do and show you how they value by paying you for the privilege of having access to it. That type of valuing back and forth between authentic people spreads positiveness out into the world and we need as much of that as we can get.